LATTAKIA, (ST) - The Syrian coast embraces dozens of submerged ports that date back to the second millennium BC, most notably al –Beida, Ugarit and al –Fakhura, which formed an anchor to huge fleets owned by the people of those eras.

The Port of al –Fakhura, in particular, constitutes a natural bay and plant of Byzantine pottery adjacent to another older plant that is believed to be of Ugariti origin.

Director-General of the DGAM has called on Turkey and Jordan to separate archaeology file from politics as it is a humanitarian file representing civilization.

Maamoun Abdul Karim's call was made after he affirmed the aggravation of the phenomena of forging the Syrian artefacts, especially mosaics in the northern and eastern regions in Syria.

He told the Damascus-based al-Watan newspaper that there are a lot of fake Palmyra statues and most of the forgers are Syrians communicating with Arab and foreign networks via neighboring countries, such as Turkey and Jordan.

"A huge number of gangs are active in Apamea city in Hama countryside," Abdul Karim said, adding that this poses a threat to the city's archaeological sites.

Foreign-backed terrorist organizations and antiquities smugglers have continued to loot archeological sites in the southern countryside of Quneitra province, according to the Directorate-General of Antiquities and Museums (DGAM).

The DGAM's Director-General Maamoun Abdul Karim was quoted on the official news agency (SANA) as saying that locals and workers in Antiques Department in Quneitra had asserted that terrorist organizations and Antiquities smugglers carried out secret excavations in al-Rafid town, which is rich with historical churches, khans and tombs dating back to the Byzantine and Islamic eras.

Two French experts from the 'Econom' Company specialized in documenting archeological heritage by modern technics have arrived in Damascus to offer support in documenting the Syrian heritage during the crisis.

The experts – Eve Obelman and Olivier Biurjois- will train a cadre for a year on how to convert photos from3D into 2D model by using Photo Scan program to form a national team to document archeological sites that have been damaged by terror attacks, according to the Tishreen newspaper.

The paper quoted sources in the Directorate-General of Antiques and Museums (DGAM) as saying that the cadre used the program in documenting artifacts and buildings in several areas in provinces of Damascus, Lattakia and Tartous.